THE MENNONITE BROTHERHOOD IN RUSSIA (1789 - 1910), P. M. Friesen, 1911

rtune moment when an election can be held. The ordination, however, we leave to you and your good judgment. “For the rest we remain with friendly greetings your unimportant fellow servants Abraham Friesen, Heinrich Balzer, Peter Penner, Klaas Friesen, Isaak Loewen. Ohrloff, March 12, 1838.” B. The Cause of the Withdrawal of the Lichtenau or “large” Congregation (Supplement to #37] a) The following letter, contained in a little booklet, written by Tobias Voth and addressed to the elders, ministers and brethren in Christ living in Prussia, shows clearly what was at stake in the withdrawal in the "large” Lichtenau congregation from the Ohrloff 136 IN RUSSIA 1789-1860 mother church, that is, from Elder Bernhard Fast. That Voth, who is the probable author, wrote the letter on behalf of Bernhard Fast, his like-minded ministers, and the elders Franz Goerz, Rudnerweide, and Peter Wedel, Alexanderwohl, is indicated, along with the date, in the text. (1822-1865: Tobias Voth lived in Ohrloff, where he began to teach during the reign of Alexander I, who died in 1825.) The date of the letter and the signatures are missing. b) “Honorable and highly esteemed elders, ministers and brethren in Christ! We have looked forward with heartfelt anticipation to the time when we should receive one of your dear letters. We have not waited in vain, for on the 23rd of this month (according to the old calendar) we received a letter from you dated February 27, of the current year. From it we are distressed to see that four of our honorable ministers, Johann Friessen [sic], David Hiebert, Jakob Warkentin and Franz Wienz [sic] and many other brethren have complained about us: 1) concerning missionary Moritz’s participation in the Lord’s Supper, 2) concerning the Bible Society existing here, and 3) concerning the so-called secondary school the above-named ministers and their adherents have established. From your letter, dear colleagues, we have also discerned your well-meaning advice as to how these matters may be rectified. c) “Concerning the participation of the dear p. 57 Moritz at the Lord’s Supper, you say we have no right to extend the Lord’s Supper to alien believers, but only to those who share the faith. Already in our earlier letter we explained how Elder ‘Ohm’ Bernhard Fast had arrived at this position. But now we add that we are of the same opinion, and that when the Lord’s Supper was extended to the dear p. Moritz, ‘Ohm’ Fast believed him, in basic issues, to share our faith, for according to the Scriptures we are certainly all of one faith if we seek to become righteous before God through the reconciling grace of Christ and live a life that leads to this goal. Because ‘Ohm’ Bernhard Fast was convinced of this with regard to p. Moritz, and because he believed that the congregation would not take offense, he made an exception in his case. You, dear elders and colleagues, advise that ‘Ohm’ Bernhard Fast decl